I recently watched the very biased documentary "Maxed Out" on Showtime.

I do believe in personal responsibility in borrowing, but I also believe that usury is bad and should be illegal.

Two things I would like to see done:

1) Put caps on credit card fees for both "late charges" and "over the limit charges". The average charges are currently between $29-$49 on both.

This means that if you had a card with a $500 limit as most college students are giving, and they end up paying hitting the limit and being a day late, that they would suffer what is in essence a 1200% interest rate in addition to their normal interest rate.

2) There should be a limit or ratio to how much principle and interest a person has to pay back. Is it reasonable to pay back $4 in interest for every $1 of principle?
It seems to me this is most definatly usury.

The credit card companies reported to Congress that the average is $2 of interest to every $1 of principle.

I don't see how anyone could not see this as usury.

Ixtellor

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George W. Bush "I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation-building"

Blasphemy is a victimless crime.

People pay $2 for every $1 charged (or more) because they pay the minimum payment every month. Want to pay less? Send in a bigger payment. Don't want a late fee? Pay on time. Don't want an over the limit fee? Don't go over your limit. All the fees are disclosed upfront. No need for Nanny.

The one rule I would implement: Aside from increasing your interest rate due to late payments, the terms and conditions of the credit agreement are not subject to change unless agreed to by the customer. That's where they get real scummy.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

The companies choose the minimum so that a person will never pay off their principle. They should adjust the ratios so that the minimum will equate to paying off the debt.

I agree about the agreements.
1 late payment can result in a 20% hike in interest for the rest of the cards life.

I still think it is immoral and should be illegal to have policies that will result in paying 10 times the principle amount in interest and fees.

Ixtellor

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George W. Bush "I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation-building"

Blasphemy is a victimless crime.

I can see both of your arguments on this subject, but I'm have to go along with Stekim here, because I believe so firmly in personal responsibility. Most of the facts that you state are disclosed prior to signing any card agreement.

However any changes made to the contract should have to be approved by both the card company and the card holder. No exceptions.

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I believe that this is a case of the corporations getting away with whatever the government allows. In this case, they have permission to charge interest at the highest legal rate possible if they want.

So, they are doing nothing wrong -directly.

It is the government that is in the wrong. Allowing such crazy interest rates on credit cards just because the industry whines about fraud and non-payment is just a thin veil for profit mongering.

If fraud is a problem, solve it technically. It reminds me of the car theft issue. Of course, if the car companies wanted, theft would be impossible - short of physically removing the car. The same goes for credit cards - fraud is no excuse, but just a problem to be solved.

There aren't too many players in the game, so it's almost a monopoly.

The government IMHO should set an interest limit that is much more reasonable, and have some base guidelines for applicant qualifications. Don't just hand these things out - look what has happened in the mortgage industry and how it is impacting the world, not just Americans.

Responsibility over profit, please (yeah...right!).

The minimum is simply not relevant. You can see your balance. You can see the interest charge. And you can see the minimum payment. If you see that paying the minimum won't reduce your balance, you need to pay more. Duh.

It's not a "policy". It the customer's choice. No one is forcing them to do anything.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

How about this instead:

We let credit card companies charge whatever the hell they want, and make people responsible for their own actions.

I like that plan much better.

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Aside from changing the agreed to terms after the fact I don't see any reason to limit what they can charge. Rate too high? Don't apply.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

A bank is there to make money, pure and simple. They have all sorts of cheeky contractual clauses that you never see and then they whip it out on you (after missing out key details, sort of the like the sub-prime mortgage fiasco). They are purely profit driven and have shown time and time again that they will bend the rules to their favour in order to bleed you dry.

I think to make it fair for the consumer they should have to advertise their contractual clauses so you pick the one you hate the least. Sure, capitalism is great but I don't think Adam Smith or any of the founders really wanted a banking system that went out of control so much so, that it wields great political power.

It's like when your down, they'll kick you in the gut with a steel capped toe of contractual agreements that you signed without looking. Small print in itself is a complete farce because if the product was so great then why do they have to hide very crucial information from you? Maybe because it messes you up?

Being a Capitalist is different from being a individualist, hedonistic, selfish person that so many American's think is the archetypal Capitalist. Banks offer me money ot start off businesses, but unless I'm making money for them I am a liability, just a bit of money they could loan out an then when they get screwed, claim I wasn't paying into my account every month and screw me over. Capitalism is based on fairness and accountability, neither of these virtues have I found in any bank (maybe the Swiss being the exception )

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You may bury my body, down by the highway side,
so my old evil spirit can get a Greyhound bus and ride.
You and I must fight to survive

That sounds like a personal problem....

ignorance can be fixed... stupidity cannot.

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